Rising Stars: Meet Lauren La

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren La.

Hi Lauren, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In 2018, I was working in a corporate company and through the years have learned majority of people trade their time to work at a corporate company for dollars on the hour instead of their skill set. A new reborn trend was starting again and I picked up a new artistic skill in the beauty industry and learned Permanent Makeup Cosmetic Tattoo particularly for eyebrows from Brows by Linnie and The Brows Academy. Shortly after, La Elle Beauty was created. I came up with La Elle because my last name is La and spelling the letter “L” for Lauren was Elle. I started doing brows on the weekends as my corporate job was Monday – Friday. As I’ve worked on eyebrows, I’ve noticed my client’s skin and sometimes it isn’t the best skin and I wanted to do something to help my clients because I struggled with acne before and felt helpless to get my skin better. I did my research and learned about Microneedling for reducing acne and acne scars to smoothening skin and took trainings to be certified. Since I’ve worked on individual’s skins who had severe acne and I have seen impressive improvements from acne to nearly none, I can say this was my newfound niche as more and more of my clients are for Microneedling treatments. There’s definitely so much to learn in the beauty industry that I can’t get enough of, I learned another skill shortly after – lash lifting to enhance/curl natural eyelashes and have recently been certified and I’m now offering Lip Blushing Tattoo. My current services are Permanent Make Up Tattoo for brows and lips, Microneedling and Lash Lifting.

Being in the beauty industry also allows me to be creative, in-tuned with being meticulous to perfect brows and lips yet business minded from my corporate expertise and I wanted to build my own website during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although I was still working at my corporate job, I managed to learn and build my own website. This was during the time when everyone was losing their job and although I was certain I was secure with my corporate job, I also had to pivot during the pandemic because you never know what can happen in corporate companies.

After building my website, my clientele are researchers on the internet. They’ve searched my Yelp reviews and Instagram. Some have also came across a YouTube video my cousin posted about skincare since I’ve helped her skin clear up after Microneedling and in addition my clients are my walking advertisement and people spreading the word. I am still growing my business and have recently sold out on my One-Touch LED Light Masks that I sell to maintain and rejuvenate their skin at the comfort of their home.

My beauty inspiration came from my mother even though she isn’t a business owner. I always wanted her to have her own nail salon so I can take over, but nothing comes easy and handed, so I took the leap of faith and quit my corporate job earlier this year in March to become a business owner and focus on building my business full-time. An additional inspiration also comes from Linnie herself, I’ve seen her grow tremendously within the beauty brow industry in the past few years and can’t thank her enough for sharing her expertise and choosing me to rent a space in her new 2nd beauty salon, T2S Beauty Studio in Huntington Beach.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Creating your own business is almost never a smooth road unless you have another business owner guiding and helping you along the way.

On my own, I’ve been navigating and researching my way to become an official business owner while still working at my corporate job. It wasn’t easy multitasking between leading the largest account for the corporate company, managing ten different distribution centers as a National Account Manager and trying to learn and build my own business, from registering for business license, building my website, looking for a location to work at, getting permitted and licensed, while trying to create content for social media, etc. all during COVID-19 pandemic.

I will say, if there’s something you’re truly passionate about, you will find the time, struggle and sacrifice to get to where you want to be. I believe the key to success is determination. If you’re determined to do something, you will find ways to make it happen. Through the entire process and never-ending learning, I will forever be grateful for my experiences and hope to help lead others who are struggling along the way.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a Permanent Cosmetic Tattoo Artist for Brows and Lips who is also certified for skin Microneedling. I specialize in Microneedling and Permanent Makeup for Brows.

I’m mostly known for Microneedling as most of my clients have seen tremendous results within their skin. From reducing acne and acne scars (pitted, ice-pick, hypertrophic red or brown scars) to reducing fine-lines and wrinkles to help smoothen their skin.

Doing Microneedling for clients is what I’m most proud of because it hits differently for me. I feel extremely happy when I’m able to help make someone feel and restore their confidence in their own skin after going through countless skincare products and procedures to get their skin smooth. Yes, I also love when I can shape and give someone brows as well because brows really do frame your face, but for those who have struggled with acne or acne scars for years, it hits differently because I understand the long skin journey struggle to finding a resolution for better skin as I used to struggle with acne as well.

There are so many other brow artists in the same industry as I’ve seen the brow industry boom in recent years, but what sets me apart is that I offer other beauty services such as Microneedling, Lash Lift and Lip Blushing and now selling One-Touch LED Light Mask to help rejuvenate and maintain your skin in the comfort of your own home.

My business is still growing, I have more learning to do and goals to achieve for my business.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Los Angeles is so diverse with so many different cultures in different areas of Los Angeles. I LOVE the food in our city. You can find hidden gems in mom and pop shops to taco trucks. Me personally, I love Mexican food, I could eat tacos everyday!

Currently, I’m sad to see so much more people without homes. I’m now seeing more tents than ever before and this is heartbreaking for me to see. I always give food when I have some. Just the other day, I saw a man looking in the trash and I said excuse me, are you looking for food, he replied yes. I gave him a breakfast burger and he said thank you sweetheart. My heart melt, I wanted to cry. The pandemic has really hit hard for everyone and I wish we could turn back time when more people were secured with their jobs.

Pricing:

• Microneedling $250 per session
• New Set Ombré Brows $400
• Lip Blushing $350
• Lash Lift & Tint $85

Contact Info:

• Email: info@laellebeauty.com
• Website: www.laellebeauty.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/laellebeauty
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/laellebeauty
• Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/la-elle-beauty-rosemead-2

Image Credits:
Sam Ip